Actuating means for bedpans



April 1311954 DE MERLE E. ECKART EIAL 2-;6'74,747

ACTUATING MEANS FOR BEDPANS Filed July 15 1950 INVENTORS. Jomr R POWLE'AF' and wmzz'. F0224? ATTOMYI Patented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ACTUATING MEANS FOR BEDPANS De Merle E. Eckart, Abilene, and John Richard Rosenleaf, Enterprise, Kans.

13 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to means for effecting and controlling the travel of a carriage along a trackway, and finds its primary utility in actuating means for bed pans. The illustrated embodiment of the invention, therefore, has been shown in that environment, and will be so described. From a consideration of the disclosure and of the claims appended hereto, however, it will be apparent that certain phases of the invention are of general utility and may be used in radically different environments.

The primary object of the invention, in its illustrated embodiment, is to provide improved means for controlling the position of a bed pan of that type which is mounted to be projected into position for use through aligned openings in the springs and mattress of an invalids bed. Such an assembly, of course, is highly desirable for use by patients who are strictly bedfast; and a substantial volume of art relating generally to such devices has developed in recent years. We, ourselves, have disclosed such an assembly, adapted for manual actuation, in our co-pending application Serial No. 62,112 filed November 26, 1948. Frequently, however, non-ambulatory patients are incapable, for one reason or another, of exerting the forces necessary to operate the manually controlled means of the said co-pending application; and, particularly under present existing shortages of nursing staffs in hospitals, it is highly desirable that means be provided of such character as to permit patients, without assistance, to move bed pans into and out of use position. Broadly stated, then, it is an object of the present invention to provide power driven means, under the control of the occupant of a hospital bed, for quickly and accurately shifting a bed pan into use position, and for causing the pan to be withdrawn therefrom. A further object of the invention is to provide control means of such character that the pan will automatically be stopped, in proper position, at either end of its travel path.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of the character above-suggested which shall be relatively independent of the weight of the patient. Since the expected travel of the bed pan is movement relative to the mattress on which the patient is supported, and since the mattress is supported upon springs, it will be obvious that, if the assembly is supported upon a bed frame, as has been customary heretofore, its use position will be dependent, to some extent, upon the weight of the occupant of the bed. For this reason, we propose to support the entire operating assembly from the bed springs, rather than from the bed frame, whereby, although the spring may be flexed to a diiierent degree by different patients, the position of the bed pan assembly relative to the mattress will remain constant.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel means for stopping the traveling carriage, as it moves upwardly, at a predetermined level; and novel means for adjusting the level at which the carriage will so be stopped.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, our invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attentio being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative onl and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary section, taken upon a plane extending longitudinally of a bed, and showing an embodiment of our invention in side elevation, in assembled relation with the bed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view taken upon a plane extending transversely of the bed;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, drawn to an enlarged scale, through the upper limit switch actuating means; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmental section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that We have shown a iragmental section of a mattress Ill supported upon a spring I! which, in turn, will be supported upon a conventional bed frame indicated diagrammatically, and out of position, at 32 in Fig. l. The mattress is formed with an opening 53 there through; and the spring is formed with a similar opening It intended to register with the opening l3.

A support or bracket i5 is suitably secured to the lower surface of the spring I! by of U-shaped grippers it or other suitable fastening means; and said support is formed to provide a tubular thimble I 7 penetrating the opening it in the spring H and snugly fitting within, and projecting to a substantial degree into, the mattress opening it. The thimble I"! thus tends to maintain proper registry between the spring and the mattress, regardless of the activity of the occupant of the bed.

Suitably supported upon, and depending from, the support i5 is a trackway |8 which, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, comprises a pair of parallel rails; and a carriage I9 is guided for movement along said trackway. The details of construction of the trackway and the cooperating parts of the carriage iii are unimportant to the present invention; but one acceptable form is clearly illustrated in the drawings, and particularly in Figs. 1 and 3.

The carriage |9 includes a platform it upon which is fixedly supported a reversible electric motor 2| which, preferably through a reduction gear 22, is connected to drive a pinion 23. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, and preferably, there will be provided two such pinions 23, each meshing with a rack bar 25 suitably secured to the respective rails of the trackway l8.

The carriage 59 also mounts bracket with which cooperates channeled mounting device 25 carried, preferably near its lower closed end, by a bed pan or receptacle 2? having an upwardly-opening mouth 28. The inter-engaging parts 25 and 26, respectively carried by the carriage l9 and the receptacle will preierably be of such character as to be readily separable, whereby the receptacle 21 may be removed from the assembly for discharge and cleaning, and a substitute receptacle, of the same or difierent form, may replace it in the assembly.

In accordance with conventional practice, a forward energizing circuit and a reverse energizing circuit will be provided for the motor 26; and, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, starting switches for said circuits carried in a switch box 39 suitably connected in the respective circuits through a flexible cord 29. The cord will be of such character that the switch box 38 may be placed in a position to be accessible to the patient, so that the entire assembly will be under the direct control of the patient; or, in some circumstances, the cord 23 will permit the location of the switch box 3|! at a point inaccessible to the patient. At any rate, the switch box carries a starting switch for the forward energizing circuit including a manually manipulable button 3|, a starting switch for the reverse energizing circuit including a manually manipulable button and, preferably, a further button 33 which, when depressed will render both circuits ineffective. In ordinary use of the assembly, the button 33 will not be required, for reasons which will appear as the description proceeds.

A limit switch 34, having an actuator button 35, is supported upon the trackway l8 near the lower end thereof; and the carriage i9 is provided with an abutment surface 35 which, when the carriage nears the lower end of its travel path, will engage and depress the button 35. The switch 34 will be connected in the reverse energizing circuit for the motor 2| in such fashion that, when the button 35 is depressed, the reverse energizing circuit for the motor will be opened and held open.

Means for automatically deenergizing the forward circuit for the motor 2| is also provided; that means being indicated generally by the reference numeral 31 and having certain novel capacities now to be described.

A housing 36 will preferably enclose the parts of the control mechanism now to be described. A shaft, operatively connected to be driven by the motor 2|, and which, as in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, may be the shaft 39 upon which the pinions 23 are mounted, is formed to provide a threaded extension 43 proje-cting into the housing 38. Threadedly mounted on the section 48 of the shaft 39 is a nut 4| re strained against rotation with the shaft section it. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, said nut is provided with a reduced extension 42 which is slidably engaged between parallel straps $3 fixed to the roof of the housing 38. Said nut is formed to provide an abutment surface l-l facing, and adapted to be moved into actuating engagement with, the actuator button 45 of a second limit switch 66 connected in the forward energizing circuit for the motor 2|. Alternatively, of course, the nut 4| might carry, or actuate, a separate element adapted to engage and actuate the button 45; but the illustrated arrangement of parts is advantageously simple.

The switch 46 is mounted for movement along a guideway 4'! fixed to the carriage 20 in parallelism with, and adjacent, the shaft section 49. A bracket 48, mounted to move with the switch #16, provides an anchorage for one end of the plunger 5?; of a Bowdcn wire actuator 58. The corresponding end of the sheath 5| of said Bowden wire assembly is anchored, by means of a set screw 52 or the like, to the housing 38 which, in turn, is secured to the platform 2i). The opposite end of the sheath 5| is anchored to bracket means 53 which, in turn, may be secured in any suitable fashion to the bed frame it, desirably, but not necessarily, in a position accessible to the occupant of the bed.

The opposite end of the plunger 49 carries a conventional operating button 55.

It will be clear from the above description that, when the receptacle 2'! is supported upon the carriage I9, it will be located in registry with the thimble H, and so with the opening |3. When the carriage |9 is at the bottom of its travel path, the upper end of the receptacle 2'! will be disposed well below the top surface of the mattress it]. In some instances, it may be desirable to proportion the parts so that the mouth of the receptacle 2'! will, under these circumstances, be a subsantial distance below the plane of the spring II.

If, now, the patient presses the button 3|, the forward energizing circuit for the motor 2| will be closed, and the motor will drive the shaft 39 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, whereby the pinions 23, meshing with the rack bars 24, will drive the carriage l9 upwardly along the trackway l8. When the receptacle 2'5 has reached an optimum position of use, further operation of the assembly can be stopped by pressing the button 33. Preferably, the gear unit 22 will be of the non-reversing type; that is, of such character that the shaft 39 cannot drive the motor 2|; but alternatively, automatic brake means may be provided for holding the platform IS in any postion Which'it may occupy, on the traokway I8, when the motor 2| is deenergized.

In order to make the assembly as convenient as possible in use, however, we prefer to provide automatic means for stopping upward travel of the carriage when the receptacle 21 has reached an optimum position for use. Obviously, such means must be adjustable to accommodate different sizes or types of receptacle, and to accommodate different patients. As the shaft 39 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, the nut 4|, being held against rotation with the shaft, will be traversed axially of the shaft section toward the right as viewed in Fig. 4. Thus, each position of elevation of the carriage I9 will correspond to a specific location of the nut 4| within the length of the shaft section 44. When the nut surface 44 engages and depresses the button 45, the forward energizing circuit for the motor 2! will be broken to stop the motor at the instant when the carriage l9 occupies a preselected position on the track- 'way l8. The elevation of that position is, of course, adjustable by shifting the position of the switch 46 with respect to the nut 4!. That is, if the button 55 is pulled outwardly, the plunger 49 will act through the bracket 48 to shift the switch 46 toward the right as viewed in Fig. 4; and if the button 55 is depressed, the switch will be correspondingly shifted toward the left as viewed in Fig. 4. Such movement of the switch, being entirely independent of the operation of the motor 2! and of the position of the nut 4| on the shaft 40, will vary the location of the nut 45 on the shaft 40 at which the surface 44 will actuate the button 45.

To select the optimum point at which the receptacle is to be stopped in its upward movement, it is merely necessary to operate the assembly to bring the receptacle to the desired position, and there stop the assembly by manipulation of the button 33. Now, the button will be pressed inwardly until the button 45 strikes, and is shifted by, the surface 44 of the nut 4E. The switch 45 may now be fixed in this position, by turning the set screw 54 down against the plunger 49; and thereafter, so long as the plunger adjustment is not changed, the carriage It will always be automatically stopped, in its upward travel, with the receptacle 2! at the selected optimum position.

We claim as our invention:

1. For use with a bed including a mattress or the like provided with an opening therethrough and a mattress support, the invention comprising a thimble, means for connecting said thimble to such support, said thimble having a portion fitting snugly in such opening and projecting thereinto a substantial distance when said thimble is so connected, a rack bar carried by and dependent from said thimble, a trackway carried by said thimble, fixed with respect to said rack bar and paralleling the same, said trackway having a longitudinal extent at least equal to that of said rack bar, a carriage slidably engaging said trackway, a motor supported on said carriage, pinion means journalled on an axis fixed with respect to said motor, operatively connected to be driven by said motor and mesh ing with said rack bar, a bed pan or like receptacle supported on said carriage in registry with said thimble, and means for controlling operation of said motor to project said receptacle upwardly through, or to withdraw said receptacle downwardly from, such opening.

2. In a device of the class described, a support adapted to be secured to a bed spring or the like, a guideway carried by and dependent from said support, rack means fixed relative to and paralleling said guideway, a carriage slidably supported in said guideway, said guideway having a longitudinal extent at least equal to the extent of the path of movement of said carriage, a motor supported on said carriage, a pinion journalled on said carriage, operatively connected to be driven by said motor and meshing with said rack means, manually-operable means for energizing said motor to drive said carriage away from said support, control means mounted on said guideway at a point remote from said support and actuable by said carriage as said carriage attains the end of its path remote from said support to deenergize said motor, manually-operable means for energizing said motor to drive said carriage toward said support, and control means moving with said carriage for deenergizing said motor, and means driven by said motor, when so energized, to actuate said lastnamed control means, and manually-manipulable means including an elongated, flexible plunger for adjusting the relative positions of said last-named control means and said means driven by said motor.

3. In a device of the class described, a support, a trackway carried by said support, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, a reversible electric motor mounted on said carriage, means driven by said motor for shifting said carriage oppositely along said trackway, manually-manipulable means for energizing said motor to drive said carriage along said trackway away from said support, manually-manipulable means for energizing said motor to drive said carriage toward said support, switch means mounted adjacent one end of said trackway and actuable by said carriage as said carriage attains one end of its travel path to deenergize said motor, switch means moving with said carriage and actuable to deenergize said motor as said carriage moves toward the other end of its travel path, means driven by said motor for so actuating said last-named switch means, said last-named switch means comprising a guideway on said carriage, a normally-closed switch connected in the circuit energizing said motor to drive said carriage toward said other end of its travel path and movably mounted on said guideway, said switch including an element shiftable to open said switch, a threaded shaft mounted adjacent said guideway on an axis parallel with said guideway and operatively connected for rotation by said motor, a nut threadedly mounted on said shaft, means preventing rotation of said nut, said switch element being mounted in the travel path of means moving with said nut, and means for shifting said switch along said guideway.

4. In a device of the class described, a trackway, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, a rack bar paralleling said trackway, a pinion journalled on said carriage and meshing with said rack bar, a reversible electric motor mounted on said carriage and operatively connected to drive said pinion, a first energizing circuit for said motor acting, when energized, to drive said motor to shift said carriage toward one end of said trackway, switch means for closing said circuit, a limit switch connected in said circuit and mounted near said one trackway end, abutment means moving with said carriage and coacting with said limit switch, as said carriage nears said one trackway end, to deenergize said first energizing circuit, a second energizing circuit for said motor acting, when energized, to drive said motor to shift said carriage toward the other end of said trackway, switch means for closing said second energizing circuit, a second limit switch connected in said second energizing circuit, means driven by said motor, when dominated by said second energizing circuit, to actuate said second limit switch to deenergize said second energizing circuit when said carriage attains a predetermined position, and means operable independently of carriage location for adjusting the position of said second limit switch relative to said last-named motor-driven means to vary the point in the carriage travel path at which said second limit switch will be so actuated.

5. The device of claim 4 in which said lastnamed motor-driven means includes a threaded shaft journalled on said carriage and driven by said motor, a nut threadedly mounted on said shaft, and means restraining said nut against rotation with said shaft, and in which said position-adjusting means comprises a guideway on said carriage adjacent said shaft and paralleling the same, said second limit switch being guided V on said guideway for movement therealong and being positioned in the travel path of an abutment surface moving with said nut, and means independent of said motor for moving said second limit switch along said guideway.

6. The device of claim 4 in which said positionadjusting means includes a guideway on said carriage, said second limit switch being guided on said guideway for movement therealong, and means independent of said motor for moving said second limit switch along said guideway, and said last-named motor-driven means being supported on said carriage-and including an abutment surface movable progressively in the line of said guideivay toward said second limit switch, under the influence of said motor when said second circuit is energized, said abutment surface coacting with said second limit switch, at times, to break said second circuit.

'7. The combination with a bed, including a frame, a bed-spring supported on said frame, and a mattress supported on said spring, said spring and said mattress being formed with registering, substantially vertically-extending openings therethrough, of a support having a tubular thimble portion penetrating said spring opening and snugly received in said mattress opening, means for securing said support to said spring, a. trackway supported by and depending from said support, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, an electric motor mounted on said carriage, means providing a driving connection between said motor and said trackway for shifting said carriage along said trackway upon energization of said motor, means for automatically deenergizing said motor when said carriage, travelling toward said support, attains a predetermined position in the length of said trackway, and a receptacle supported on said carriage and registering with said thimble and adapted to be projected through said thimble and said openings upon travel of said carriage toward said support, and to be withdrawn therefrom upon travel of said carriage away from said support, said receptacle having a vertical dimension largely exceeding either of its horizontal dimensions and being constructed and arranged to be bodily received, when in use position, between the legs of a patient in prone or supine position on the mattress and to provide an access opening in one substantially vertical wall thereof, said opening being presented toward the head of said bed and above said mattress when said carriage is in its uppermost position.

8. The combination of claim '7 including means for adjusting the carriage position at which said motor will be deenergized.

9. The combination with a bed, including a frame, a bed-spring supported on said frame, and a mattress supported on said spring, said spring and said mattress being formed with registering, substantially vertically-extending openings therethrough, of a support having a tubular thimble portion penetrating said spring opening and snugly received in said mattress opening, means for securing said support to said spring, a trackway supported by and depending from said support, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, an electric motor mounted on said' carriage, means providing a driving connection between said motor and said trackway for shifting said carriage along said trackway upon energization of said motor, means for automatically deenergizing said motor when said carriage, travelling toward said support, attains a predetermined position in the length of said trackway, and a receptacle supported on said carriage and registering with said thimble and adapted to be projected through said thimble and said openings upon travel of said carriage toward said support, and to be withdrawn therefrom upon travel of said carriage away from said support, said receptacle being constructed and arranged to provide an access opening in one substantially vertical wall thereof, said opening being presented toward the head of said bed and above said mattress when said carriage is in its uppermost position, means for adjusting the carriage position at which said motor will be deenergized, said last-named means being supported on said frame.

10. The combination with a bed, including a frame, a bed-spring supported on said frame, and a mattress supported on said spring, said spring and said mattress being formed with registering, substantially vertically-extending openings therethrough, of a support having a tubular thimble portion penetrating said spring opening and snugly received in said mattress opening, means for securing said support to said spring, a trackway supported by and depending from said support, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, an electric motor mounted on said carriage, means providing a driving connection between said motor and said trackway for shifting said carriage along said trackway upon energization of said motor, means for automatically deenergizing said motor when said carriage, traveling toward said support, attains a predetermined position in the length of said trackway, and a receptacle supported on said carriage and registering with said thimble and adapted to be projected through said thimble and said openings upon travel of said carriage toward said support, and to be withdrawn therefrom upon travel of said carriage away from said support, said receptacle being constructed and arranged to provide an access opening in one substantially vertical wall thereof, said opening being presented toward the head of said bed and above said mattress when said carriage is in its uppermost position, said means for automatically deenergizing said motor comprising a guideway on said carriage, a limit switch connected in the energizing circuit for said motor, and mounted on said guideway for movement therealong, a threaded shaft journalled on said carriage adjacent and parallel to said guideway, a nut threadedly mounted on said shaft, and means restraining said nut against rotation with said shaft.

11. The combination with a bed, including a frame, a bed-spring supported on said frame, and a mattress supported on said spring, said spring and said mattress being formed with registering, substantially vertically-extending openings therethrough, of a support having a tubular thimble portion penetratin said spring opening and snugly received in said mattress opening, means for securing said support to said spring, a trackway supported by and depending from said support, a carriage guided for movement along said trackway, an electric motor mounted on said carriage, means providing a driving connection between said motor and said trackway for shifting said carriage along said trackway upon energization of said motor, means for automatically deenergizing said motor when said carriage, travelling toward said support, attains a predetermined position in the length of said trackway, and a receptacle supported on said carriage and registering with said thimble and adapted to be projected through said thimble and said openings upon travel of said carriage toward said support, and to be withdrawn therefrom upon travel of said carriage away from said support, said receptacle being constructed and arranged to provide an access opening in one substantially vertical wall thereof, said opening being presented toward the head of said bed and above said mattress when said carriage is in its uppermost position, said means for automatically deenergizing said motor comprising a guideway on said carriage, a limit switch connected in the energizing circuit for said motor, and mounted on said guideway for movement therealong, a threaded shaft journalled on said carriage adjacent and parallel to said guideway, a nut threadedly mounted on said shaft, means restraining said nut against rotation with said shaft, a Bowden wire assembly including a sheath and plunger, one end of said sheath being fixed to said carriage and the corresponding end of said plunger being operatively connected to said switch, and the other end of said sheath being anchored on said frame.

12. The combination of claim 11 including a forward energizing circuit for said motor, said limit switch being connected in said circuit, a. reverse energizing circuit for said motor, a second limit switch connected in said reverse energizing circuit, said second limit switch being supported on said trackway adjacent the end thereof remote from said support, abutment means moving with said carriage and engageable with said second limit switch, as said carriage nears said remote trackway end, to actuate said second limit switch, a starting switch for said forward circuit, a starting switch for said reverse circuit, and means connecting said starting switches in their respective circuits, said starting switches being accessible to an occupant of the bed.

13. The combination of claim 12 in which the means connecting said starting switches in their respective circuits includes a flexible cord means whereby said switches may occupy a position accessible to an occupant of the bed or a position inaccessible to such occupant.

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